Space shuttle Challenger

The Space Shuttle Challenger mission was the 25th space shuttle mission and the 10th launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. After several delays of the launch, because of weather and other technical difficulties, it was launched at 11:38am from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew consisted of seven crew members: Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Gregory B. Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe, Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, and Ronald E. McNair.

This flight was very special. Not just because it was going into space, but it was the first space shuttle with a teacher on board. Because of this, it was a very publicized event. Christa McAuliffe was a high school teacher from New Hampshire. She was selected from 11,000 other applicants.

The space shuttle lifted off and after 73 seconds and 46,000 ft., it exploded into a ball of fire. The main cause of the explosion was the failure of the aft joint seal in the right SRB due to the cold weather. A combustion gas leak in the Solid Rocket Motor shortly after ignition weakened and penetrated the external tank initiating structural break up and the loss of Space Shuttle Challenger.

After this tragic event, shuttle designers made several modifications to space shuttles. They improved the O-ring and they made a crew bail out system. Although it couldn't save lives for certain, it could save them in certain space shuttle cases. They also made procedural changes. They made stricter safety reviews and more restrictive launching conditions.

How did this event reflect the culture of the time?It showed that accidents do happen. We thought that we had everything under control when we actually didn't. We didn't go through the right safety procedures to make sure that the crew would be safe all throughout the flight. We needed to go further to look at the shuttle to make sure everything was ok and not just to rush these people getting into space. We wanted the first civilian to land in space so bad that we didn't make sure she would be safe enough to get there. But they did learn from this and made modifications so people would be safer and the shuttle was less likely of failing because of the things that they did.